One Direction split! Fans dragged down as boys plan to go separate ways

'No bad blood,' source tells The Sun, and 1D will be back in a year. Yeah, right.

We here at Metro were still reeling over Zayn Malik's decision to walk away and now this morning comes this: One Direction is splitting up and the remaining four skinny jean-wearing boys are going their own separate ways.

But they'll be back, an inside source tells The Sun. Just a few solo projects starting come March.

The Sun's source insisted: “It is definitely not a split and they fully intend to get back together at some time in the future ...but for now it is the end and they go out on top as the world’s most popular music act.”

The story of my life! They always Drag Me Down, God Only Knows why but One way or another they'll live while we’re young #1dsplit#1D

The group's last stadium concert will be in Sheffield, England on Oct 31 and Harry Styles, Liam Payne, Louis Tomlinson and Niall Horanwill promote their upcoming new album -- their fifth --- in February, after a Christmas break, the Sun said.

Metro finds it ironic that their new single, which debuted a new, harder rock sound for the guys, is called "Drag Me Down."

Because, really that's what they're doing here. Nobody can drag you down, Harry? Well you sure are dragging us down!

It reminds us of that scene in Planet of the Apes -- the 1968 original (yes, kids, they had movies then) -- when Charleton Heston climbs down from his horse, looks up, and reality sets in: It's the blown-up Statue of Liberty.

He gets down on his knees and screams: "You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to Hell!"